Future Imperfect
' |image= |series= |production=40274-182 |producer(s)= |story= |script=J. Larry Carroll and David Bennett Carren |director=Les Landau |imdbref=tt0708719 |guests=Andreas Katsulas as , Chris Demetral as Jean-Luc/Ethan, Carolyn McCormick as Minuet, Patti Yasutake as Alyssa Ogawa, Todd Merrill as Gleason, April Grace as Hubbell, George O'Hanlon Jr. as Transporter Chief, Dana Tjowander as Barash |previous_production=Reunion |next_production=Final Mission |episode=TNG S04E08 |airdate=12 November 1990 |previous_release=Reunion |next_release=Final Mission |story_date(s)=44286.5 (2367) |previous_story=Reunion |next_story=Final Mission }} =Summary= Commander Riker's birthday celebration is interrupted as he, Geordi La Forge, and Worf are sent down to a huge underground cavern on Alpha Onias II, an uninhabited Class M planet, to investigate unusual readings. After their arrival, the cavern suddenly fills with toxic gases, and the three officers fall unconscious. Riker awakens in sick bay to find that sixteen years have passed. He is now Captain of the Enterprise with Data as his first officer, and Picard has been promoted to admiral, with Deanna Troi serving as his aide. Riker cannot remember any event after the Alpha Onias III mission, which Doctor Crusher explains is a side effect of a viral infection he contracted on the planet, and his memories of the intervening events may or may not return in time. Riker learns that he was married, is now widowed, and has a son named Jean-Luc (named after Picard). He is further startled when Tomalak — a Romulan commander who was formerly an archenemy of the Enterprise, now an ambassador — beams onto the ship to negotiate a peace treaty with the Federation. Despite Picard's reassurances, Riker is hesitant to reveal sensitive Starfleet information in negotiating the treaty. As Riker struggles to adjust to his new life, numerous inconsistencies arise. The Enterprise computer is uncharacteristically slow, numerous systems experience minor technical glitches, and Geordi is unable to correct the problems. Finally, Riker discovers that his late wife "Min" is Minuet, a fictional holodeck character he fell in love with. Riker realizes that the entire "future" he has been experiencing is a charade and confronts Picard and Tomalak on the Enterprise bridge, with more inconsistencies arising as he does so, proving his suspicions. Suddenly, the false future fades away, revealing a Romulan holodeck. Commander Tomalak is revealed to be behind the simulation, the object of which was to trick Riker into giving away the location of a key Federation outpost. The Romulans, Tomalak explains, were fooled by the intensity of Riker's memories of Minuet and had incorporated her into their fantasy on the assumption that she was real. Riker is put in a holding area, where he meets the boy whose image the Romulans had used to create his "son". The boy identifies himself as "Ethan". Together, they manage to escape and briefly elude their Romulan guards. However, as the two are hiding from their pursuers, Ethan inadvertently refers to Tomalak as "Ambassador", instead of "Commander". Riker realizes that he is still in a simulation; confronting Ethan over it, he demands that the game end immediately and that he be allowed to leave. Everything disappears once more, leaving only Riker and Ethan back in the cavern on Alpha Onias III. Ethan confesses that he had created the simulations, using sophisticated scanners to read his mind and create the "reality" he experienced. Ethan's planet had been attacked and his people killed; his mother had hidden him in the cavern for his own safety, with all the simulation equipment, before she died; and Ethan, all alone, had been yearning for companionship. Riker realizes Ethan's intentions were not hostile, and after Ethan reveals his true form as a grey-skinned insectoid alien named Barash, Riker offers him refuge on the Enterprise. Riker is then able to contact the ship, and learns that Worf and La Forge had beamed up without incident, but the Enterprise was unable to locate him. Barash accepts Riker's offer, and the two beam onto the ship. =Errors and Explanations= Plot Oversights # Riker waking up in the future wearing his uniform, despite apparently being in a coma for 10 days. Maybe 24th century medicene has done away with the need for hospital gowns? Nit Central # Msmith (Msmith) on Sunday, July 30, 2000 - 10:13 pm: Please forgive me, I'm working from a memory of just one viewing of this episode, but how does Riker know that Minuet never really existed? He created her in the holodeck simulation, correct, at first...but possibly he was influenced by a subconscious "memory" of seeing her face fleetingly on the street or seeing her in a newspaper. So ... it's just possible that she could be a real person somewhere. How does he know that she cannot possibly be real? He wasn't able to recreate her without the assistance of the Byners who created her. # Nobody on Tuesday, June 19, 2001 - 2:20 pm: If what Picard says at the end is true, that Riker was missing for about an hour, then this episode must take place in close to real time. There's no sense of time dilation that I'm aware of. So, Riker wakes up in sickbay and within about a half hour he's met with the Romulans, practically read to sign a treaty? And it takes him only another half hour to escape from the ersatz Romulans - that means him and the kid tried to escape almost instantly after being thrown in the cell? This this make sense? Riker doesn't seem the type to hang around during a dangerous situation. # Keith Alan Morgan (Kmorgan) on Wednesday, July 25, 2001 - 4:15 am: If the badges are supposed to show rank then why does Admiral Picard wear the same type badge as Captain Riker? Shouldn't the Admiral's badge have at least five bars instead of the Captain's four? The four bars may be standard for officers with the rank of captain and above. (Although it is hard to see, the Admiral badge Is colour inverted from the regular one (so it has silver bars and a gold arrow) plus the arrow has an additional star in it.) # Most of this fantasy comes from Riker's head, so why does he seem to believe that most of his shipmates have no ambition and have passed up promotions to stay on the Enterprise? Meg on Wednesday, July 25, 2001 - 1:49 pm: Isn't that what Riker himself has done in the past. Seniram Besides, why would they transfer away from the Federation flagship? # What happened to the boy? Most likely placed in foster care. # LUIGI NOVI on Tuesday, February 05, 2002 - 3:46 pm: Ensign Gleason, seen on the battle bridge during the Enterprise’s rescue of Picard/Locutus in Act 3 of Best of Both Worlds part II, has received a promotion to lieutenant by this episode, possibly due in part to his battle bridge work in that episode. He tells Picard of the subspace fluctuations in the teaser of this episode. This is no problem, but Captain Riker should immediately be able to tell that the reality is fake when "Ambassador Tomalok" beams aboard later on in Act 2, because Gleason is the transporter operator, and he hasn’t aged at all. Riker should immediately have recognized him, because he worked side by side with Gleason on the battle bridge in Best of Both Worlds part II. What kind of plastic surgery has this guy had? The 'memory loss' could have made him forget the faces of those he doen't regularly work with. # John A. Lang on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 7:44 pm: OK...the faux-Enterprise crew tells Riker that his memory was "gone" for over 16 years. Yet, in all the visual records of Riker's faux history, it shows Riker very coherent. (Waving, talking kissing, playing, etc) What did Riker do all that time? Walk around and say "Duh"? Even Altzheimer's patients retain SOME memory. THAT should've been Riker's tip-off right there that something wasn't right. Merat on Tuesday, October 29, 2002 - 8:03 pm: I believe that Riker was normal during those sixteen years and only later LOST the memories of those years.John A. Lang on Wednesday, October 30, 2002 - 7:52 pm: Just watched the episode again. The episode explains that Riker went into a coma after suffering a relapse of the incident "16 years ago" and THAT erased his memory. =Notes= =Sources= Category:Episodes Category:The Next Generation